Microsoft planning new Windows 8 update codenamed 'Threshold', will bring it in line with Xbox One

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Plans have leaked about Microsoft's next update after Windows 8.1, including the name it is using internally for the project. The next release is currently being dubbed "Threshold" among the team concerned, a name derived from a planet in the original Xbox Halo.

Now that Windows 8.1 has ironed out the bugs in the company's PC software and the Xbox One has hit the market, the company is allegedly looking to unify the operating systems of each more closely, along with Windows Phone, in order to present a more balanced front for consumers.

Threshold will, therefore, be made up with three separate updates, one for each system, and ZDNet claims that there are plans to release them in spring 2015 - there's no need to get too excited yet.

Mary Jo Foley from ZDNet also claims that her contacts state that Microsoft is working on a single unified application store that will work across all of its platforms, mobile, PC and Xbox One. With the acquisition of Nokia's device business set to be completed in early 2014, this seems an obvious step for a company that is rapidly moving out of just software development in multiple areas.